The search for four-year-old August “Gus” Lamont has taken a dramatic turn after multiple residents near Oak Park, on the outskirts of South Australia’s Outback region, reported hearing what they described as “children’s voices and laughter” late at night — just days after authorities scaled back the official search.
According to witnesses, the sounds came from a wooded stretch bordering the park, an area not far from where Gus was last seen before vanishing without a trace. “It sounded like a child calling softly,” one local said. “It went quiet, then came back again. It was eerie — but it sounded real.”
In a further twist, police have confirmed that a newly recovered 10-second CCTV clip from a nearby service station is now under forensic review. The footage, captured hours after the last confirmed sighting of Gus, reportedly shows a small figure moving near the edge of the frame — prompting investigators to re-examine the possibility that the boy could still be alive.
A law enforcement source described the video as “potentially significant but not yet conclusive.” However, one officer admitted that what appears in the final seconds of the recording has “left the team shaken.”
Detectives have since returned to Oak Park with tracking dogs and drones, while local volunteers have resumed their own searches despite difficult terrain and fading daylight.
For the Lamont family, who have endured days of anguish and speculation, the renewed hope has been described as “agonizing.” “They want to believe Gus is still out there,” a family friend told reporters. “But until they know what’s really on that footage, it’s unbearable.”
As the 10-second clip continues to circulate behind closed doors among investigators, one haunting question remains: Was that voice in the dark — and the shadow on the screen — really Gus Lamont?
